Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tikka T3, Optika 6 and cheap ammo

Well my Meopta Optika 6 finally came in and went to the range. I had a factory box of hornady 165 SST and decided to pick up some Federal Bue Box 150's just to play around with the new scope. The Optika 6 3-18x56 RD SFP #4 illuminated dot is a very nice optic (thanks again Doug). Very clear and to be honest I should have weighed it, but it didn't feel stupid heavy. Once on got on paper, I zero'd it in and started popping. I can tell you, the Tikka didn't like those 165's worth a flip. It was all over the place. I bet it was 3" spread at 100 yards. So I decided to try the Federal blue box. I have read on here that they shoot well in a stock Tikka. Well shot once and dead nuts. I shot again and didn't see a hole. So now I'm like, this gun is garbage. During this time, I had to wait. there is a 10 time frame for gun fire at the local range, then a safety stand down for all to go check targets. then firing will restart on the command of the range officer. So i wait patiently for about 8 min, and started walking toward target. I was looking the entire time i got close to see where in the hell that 2nd round hit before I would keep shooting. When I arrived at the target, it was in the same damn hole. So i went back, waited for range officer to start again and starting popping cap. Over the course of about 2 boxes, this thing shot .5 moa with $17 a box federal blue box 150 walmart ammo. Federal is offering a $5 rebate for a box of ammo bought so actually the box of ammo was $12. As I would shoot, I just kept chuckeling. The guy in the lane next to me was looking at me crazy and finally asked what was going on. I told him that I had some $30+ Hornady 165's that shot like do do and this walmart ammo is driving tacks. The more I shot, the more it amazed me. I'll eventually load up some because I'd like to get a little more velocity, but for now, Wally World ammo is going to run like water through this gun.

I did remove the speed bumps and free float the barrel. After reading several threads on it and getting lots of opinions, I decided to do. All of my rifles are free floated from the action on and this one should be no different. Once i free floated, i went with the warne rail and warne rings. Did a little tracking while I was there and tracked well, but I don't dial alot so can't give any in-depth info on that. All in all, really like the scope. I also played around with it in low light. Very nice and will get you way pass legal light. The illuminated dot can be dialed down enough so that it doesn't over power you pupil. I also think the different options that meopta offers with this line will make it a hit. capped vs tactical turrets, reticles, objectives.

Chambering?

Your story is very interesting. I've got Mauser 30-06 that is the same way. The Federal 168BT can't hold a group and the Remington 150 Core Lokt is just fine.

All the Federal Blue Box is VERY accurate. 80gr, 100gr in .243 shoot sub MOA in my Howa Alpines. The 150gr 308 shoots 1/2" to 1" in my Kimber Classic Select. Great factory ammo. Just chronied the .308 150's at 2740 in 50* weather with an SD of 8...........excellent ammo

Glad your liking the Meopta

Trusty .308. Lol.

Yeah I also wanted to crono to get "true" velocities. Box says 2820, but who knows.

I've got the same rifle, Tikka T3X 308 and the same Optika 3-18x56 #4 scope on the way. I'm between the DNZ Game Reaper rail and rings and Warne. Can you point me to the Warne rail and rings you went with? Also, are you happy with your choice?

This is the rail i went went. It looks less tactical and works great.
Warne Rail

The only reason I went that route was because I already had a set of 30mm warne rings. Currently I like the setup. The scope is a little heavier than my others, but when mounted on the Tikka, the entire rifle weight is about the same or still even less than my others. I really like the light gathering of the 56mm and even on 18x has really good eye relief.